By Asunmogejo Yusuf Olawale
A shocking update from the military counter operations on the Boko Haram insurgents has shown that the acclaimed leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau, is crippled and can longer work effectively.
From a verifiable claim from one of the captured Boko Haram fighters, Mohammed Adam, he declared that the leader of the terrorist sect can no longer lead operations physically. Adam who claimed to have actively participated in operations spearheaded by Shekau in the past shared his experience of how a counter operation from the Nigerian military strike got Shekau crippled.
To clear the doubt in the air, Adam claimed to have been actively involved in moving the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls to a camp in Tumbuktu, in Sambisa forest. Having spent five years as a Boko Haram fighter, the captured Boko Haram fighter has sufficient skills and training in handling weapons such as AK-47 rifles and general-purpose machine gun (GPMG), as well as skills in planting explosives to cause casualties and fragmentation injuries in crowded communities.
Taking a recount on the recent videos made public by the terrorist sect, one point of observation is that the said sect leader is mostly in the sitting position. While others are standing, Shekau would always remain seated in his most recent video. Could this claim be true?
A further analysis into the video shared by the military of Adam shows that counter operations carried out by the military joint team in mid-2018, wreaked so much havoc on the health of Abubakar Shekau, and has since been relegated to controlling and supervising operations from backstage.
Adamu, while recounting his experience as a captured Boko Haram fighter, Adam claimed that he was abducted at the age of 10 while he was working on his father’s farm in Banki, Gowza local government area of Borno. When asked what prompted his plans to escape, Adamu pointed out hardship and hunger as the major reason why he had to escape from the captive of the Insurgents.
He also confirmed that there are many other young Nigerians in captivity of the Boko Haram Insurgents, especially in Banki in Bama local government area of the state who are being currently recruited into becoming field soldiers.
Importantly, the government should intensify its efforts in carrying out counter operations on the sect, to rescue more captured young fighters, restore respite in the northern region, and nip insecurity in the bud in its entirety.
Conclusively, while we are awaiting reactions from the commander-in-Chief as regards this development, it is hoped that the government will take bold actions to fight the cause of insecurities in Nigeria to the end.
